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Caring critters puppet party: Showing respect online
Child Safeguarding Statement
Some resources and activities may prompt a child to remember and potentially share an experience of harm. Make sure you’re familiar with your school's safeguarding policies and procedures so you can confidently report safety and well-being concerns.
Prepare students for the session by discussing: their right to be safe and respected; what to do if discussing online safety makes them feel uncomfortable or unsafe; and how to seek help if they feel or have felt unsafe. Use this resource available on the website.
Caring critters puppet party: Showing respect online
Overview
This lesson aims to teach young learners about the importance of respectful behaviours online and offline. Through the use of soft toys/puppets to facilitate roleplay, it addresses common online scenarios that require learners to show respect to themselves and others.
It unpacks what respect looks like both online and offline, emphasising the similarities in behaviours rather than viewing them as disconnected. Learners are encouraged to consider what self-respect entails, including saying no, reporting issues, or asking an adult for help.
Setup
- Puppets, soft toys and/or action figures. Ensure toys are adaptable for learners with physical disability. Alternative methods include mouth-operated puppets or virtual puppetry.
- A space that is big enough for small groups/pairs to play.
- (Optional) Provide a digital version of the presentation for learners using assistive technology.
- (Optional) Drawing materials/playdough, for learners who require alternative means of expression.
- (Optional) A quiet space for students who may feel overwhelmed by loud noises or crowds which may occur during group play.
This lesson is part of the FREE digital licence program
Learning Intentions
Learners will:
- Explore the similarities between showing respect in online and offline environments.
- Generate solutions to common online scenarios that are respectful to themselves and others.
These intentions are evidenced when learners can:
- Suggest at least one relevant solution to a common online scenario that is respectful.
- Correctly identify at least two respectful behaviours - one towards themselves, and one towards others.
Educators will:
- Develop strategies to guide young learners in generating respectful solutions to common online scenarios, emphasising self-respect and respect for others.
- Develop practical skills regarding the use of soft toys, puppets, and roleplay to encourage empathy and support learners in understanding how to behave respectfully in various situations.
These intentions are evidenced when educators can:
- Successfully facilitate discussions that help learners identify the similarities between respectful behaviours online and offline.
- Effectively use soft toys or puppets in roleplay activities, ensuring learners actively engage in scenarios that highlight the importance of respectful behaviour.
Lesson Instructions
Introductory discussion
What does respect mean?
- Talk about respectful behaviours. Highlight similarities across online/offline settings.
- Use prompts from Slide 1 to explore the concept.
- Include self-respect: ask for help, make good choices, and reject unkind words.
List ways to show respect to others and ourselves.
- Use frame and prompts on Slide 2.
- Refer to Educator tips additional hints (p. 3).
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Main activity
Choose guided or small group roleplay based on learners' needs.
Guided roleplay (whole class)
- Read each scenario starting at Slide 3.
- As a group, generate ideas to resolve the scenario respectfully.
- Invite volunteers to the front to act out an appropriate resolution to the scenario with you using puppets or action figures.
Puppet roleplay in groups
- Assign a scenario from Slide 3 to small groups/pairs.
- Use soft toys/puppets to create a story, making sure it has a respectful resolution.
- After 10 minutes, invite groups to act out/discuss the scenarios. Highlight the respectful behaviours.
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Exit pass
Discussion: Showing respectful behaviours
Remind learners that being safe online means showing respect to themselves and others. Ask:
- What can we say when someone is unkind online?
- What can we do when someone is unkind online?
- What can we do if we feel scared or unsafe online?
Each learner should be able to explain at least one relevant respectful solution or explain why another suggestion is respectful.
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(Optional) Top-up or extend the lesson
Top-up the lesson:
For learners who need more help meeting the learning intentions & success criteria.
Using the frame on Slide 6, unpack the similarities and differences between respectful online and offline behaviours. Ask learners to draw pictures, write words, or simply discuss the ways that they can show respect to their friends, family, and themselves in both environments. This activity reinforces the idea that respectful behaviours online and offline can often be the same, helping to understand the importance of consistency in their actions.
Extend the lesson:
For learners who have met the learning intentions & success criteria and need a bit more of a challenge.
Create a code of conduct poster to share at home using the Conduct Island map provided (Slide 7). Families, carers, or trusted adults can add to it. The goal is to colour, draw pictures, and write (with assistance if needed) at least three goals for respectful online behaviour, including setting boundaries and asking for help. Conduct Island is part of the eSmart Digital Licence quest.
If your class is not already on the quest and want to explore other islands, visit be.esmart.org.au/dl/overview.
Aligned Curriculum
Australian Curriculum (Version 9.0)
The Australian Curriculum outlines the fundamental knowledge, comprehension, and abilities students are expected to acquire as they advance through the initial 11 years of schooling.
Foundation: General Capabilities
Personal and Social Capability
Empathy:
- Level 1: Demonstrate an awareness of the needs, emotions, cultures and backgrounds of others.
Foundation: Health and Physical Education
- AC9HPFP02: Practise personal and social skills to interact respectfully with others.
- AC9HPFP04: Explore how to seek, give or deny permission respectfully when sharing possessions or personal space.
- AC9ADRFD01: Use play, imagination, arts knowledge, processes and/or skills to discover possibilities and develop ideas.
- AC9ADRFC01: Create art works that communicate ideas.
- AC9ADRFP01: Share their art works with audiences.
Year One: General Capabilities
Personal and Social Capability
Relational Awareness:
- Level 2: Describe ways they can initiate and develop relationships, including identifying how others may feel in a range of contexts.
Year One: Health and Physical Education
- AC9HP2P02: Identify and explore skills and strategies to develop respectful relationships.
- AC9HP2P03: Identify how different situations influence emotional responses.
- AC9HP2P04: Practise strategies they can use when they need to seek, give or deny permission respectfully.
- AC9ADR2D01: Use the elements of drama and imagination in dramatic play and/or process drama.
- AC9ADR2C01: Create and co-create fictional situations based on imagination and/or experience.
- AC9ADR2P01: Share their drama in informal settings.
CASEL Framework
The CASEL Framework creates a foundation for applying evidence-based, Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) strategies both at school and in the broader community. Its aim is to support the cultivation of SEL skills and environments that advance students’ learning and development.
- Relationship skills: The abilities to establish and maintain healthy and supportive relationships and to effectively navigate settings with diverse individuals and groups.
My Time, Our Place – Framework for School Age Care in Australia
The aim of My Time, Our Place: Framework for School Age Care in Australia (the Framework) is to assist educators to provide children and young people with opportunities to maximise their potential and develop a foundation for successful lifelong learning. The Framework has been designed for use by approved providers and school age care educators working in partnership with children and young people, their families and the community, including schools.
Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world.
Children develop a sense of belonging to groups and communities and an understanding of the reciprocal rights and responsibilities necessary for active community participation.
This is evident when children:
- Communicate and demonstrate an understanding that they are a part of a world that shares and communicates using digital technologies.
- Demonstrate an ability to share and respect others’ use of digital technologies.
Differentiate the lesson by assessing the discussion.
Modify instruction as appropriate, based on whether learners can:
- Identify the difference between online and offline activities.
- Give relevant examples of respectful behaviour.
Option one: Revise the difference between online/offline.
Online: Using devices for games, messaging, and browsing the internet. Review ways to support friends online and offline.
Option two: Make it more challenging
Have learners generate their own roleplay scenarios for the next activity, and/or make their own puppets to use.
Observe activity participation to ensure progress towards the success criteria. Modify instruction if learners struggle to:
- Stay on task; too much free play or completely off topic.
- Suggest at least one relevant respectful solution to a scenario.
Options:
- Pair students with different abilities to work together.
- You might wish to repeat this activity at another time to gauge how much is understood from modelling the responses.
Assess the “Exit pass” activity to ensure learners have met the following success criteria:
- Suggest at least one relevant solution to a common online scenario that is respectful.
- Correctly identify at least two respectful behaviours - one towards themselves, and one towards others.
Next steps:
If some learners didn’t meet the criteria, do the “Top-up” activity in the following section. Discussion about the lesson’s themes can be continued at home by setting the extension task as homework.
Important Note:
If this lesson is being conducted as part of the eSmart Digital Licence, you’ll need to ensure that all learners have met the success criteria before accessing and distributing the Digital Licences.
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